Cabourduinen (Adinkerke, Belgium - Gijvelde, France)
Photos – Info – Weather – Tips – Geo Info – Starry sky [- Tides]
General information about Cabourduinen
The Cabour Dunes is a contiguous stretch of 89 hectares of ancient, so-called, fossil dunes. It is a protected area consisting of ancient dunes: more than 3,300 years old. Some sources even speak of 5,000 or 12,000 years old. In short, very old. This makes them the oldest of the entire Belgian coast. In all that time, rainwater has removed the lime from the soil. Consequently, there is a specific vegetation.
This nature reserve is located in Adinkerke on the French border, parallel to the E40 freeway. Actually, the area extends even further into Gijvelde, France. In fact, there is another piece there that is even slightly larger than the Belgian piece. You can also see it as a Belgian continuation of the French "Les Dunes de Flandre".
It was once a water reclamation area. Scattered around the domain you can still find some bunkers. Some of those bunkers house bats. If you are a little lucky you will also see a flock of sheep and goats. In the summer you can also see Shetland ponies. These animals are used to graze the domain somewhat ecologically.
Only one hiking trail runs through the property. The area is actually best accessed with a nature guide. Without a guide there are limited hiking opportunities. You can also walk around the domain which also gives you a good impression of this unique dune area.
One wants to keep the rabbits, numerous in number, somewhat under control and mostly within the domain. Outside, they can damage agricultural crops. Just think of farmer Deswarte's delicious asparagus. He had to build an extra fence, partly buried in the ground (otherwise the rabbits just dig under it) to protect his crops. That there are many rabbits can be seen from the many burrows and turned over earth. Sometimes whole pieces of the overlying dune vegetation are already gone.
Did you know ... ordinary people were not even allowed to hunt these rabbits in the dunes? This was exclusively provided for the nobility and there were fines for illegal poaching. Here and there, street names in De Panne still refer to these rabbits, which were common back then as well: for example, you have the "Rabbit Road".
Do not confuse this domain with the nature domain "De Westhoek". In that much vaster nature domain you will find much more recent sand dunes. The vegetation there is also different. Note that the Cabour dunes are (no longer) on the water (once they were), the dunes in the domain "De Westhoek" are at present. That is why the section "Tides" is missing from this info page.
Visitor tips Cabourduinen
General tips:
1) if you are looking for other nearby attractions, consult our Tourist map of Top.Vlaanderen.
2) You can consult our overview lists: by category ( e.g. timeline, size, ...) or by region
3) You can also always consult tourist services: see our overview of tourist services
Tip 1: In these dunes, a French farmer grows dune asparagus. These are highly sought after in gourmet restaurants, among others. They also have a shop there with regional products.
Tip 2: Two crowd-pullers of the Panne are the Nature Reserve "The Westhoek" and the historic, protected Dumont neighborhood. Both very attractive.
Geographical information
Address: Cabourweg, Adinkerke, West Flanders, Belgium
Geographical coordinates:
- Google Maps: Latitude = 51.0629779 - Longitude = 2.5749726
- Open Street Maps: Latitude = 51.06464 - Longitude = 2.57475
- Altitude h = 5 m
Indication of Cabourduinen on:
Tourist map of Top.Vlaanderen - Google Maps - OpenStreetMap.
Route to Cabourduinen: Route via Google Maps
Meteo
6°C
| Day | Condition | Temperature | Precipitation | Rain Chance | Wind | Humidity | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Today
22:00
|
 cloudy
|
6° | 8°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 14 Km/h | 100 % | 1020 mb |
|
Tomorrow
22:00
|
 cloudy
|
6° | 9°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 17 Km/h | 92 % | 1020 mb |
|
Mon Jan 26
10:00 p.m.
|
 slightly cloudy
|
4° | 9°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 19 Km/h | 90 % | 1019 mb |
|
Tue Jan 26
10:00 p.m.
|
slightly cloudy
|
5° | 9°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 20 Km/h | 91 % | 1020 mb |
|
Wed Jan 26
10:00 p.m.
|
 light rain
|
4° | 8°°C | 0.35 mm | 35% | 34 Km/h | 90 % | 1011 mb |
| Hour | Condition | Temperature | Precipitation | Rain Chance | Wind | Humidity | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Today
13:00
|
cloudy
|
6° | 10°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 12 Km/h | 100 % | 1017 mb |
|
Today
16:00
|
cloudy
|
7° | 10°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 9 Km/h | 95 % | 1017 mb |
|
Today
19:00
|
cloudy
|
8° | 8°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 14 Km/h | 95 % | 1018 mb |
|
Today
22:00
|
cloudy
|
7° | 7°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 11 Km/h | 93 % | 1020 mb |
|
Tomorrow
01:00
|
cloudy
|
8° | 8°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 11 Km/h | 92 % | 1020 mb |
|
Tomorrow
04:00
|
cloudy
|
8° | 8°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 11 Km/h | 89 % | 1020 mb |
|
Tomorrow
07:00
|
cloudy
|
7° | 7°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 13 Km/h | 92 % | 1019 mb |
|
Tomorrow
10:00
|
cloudy
|
7° | 7°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 17 Km/h | 87 % | 1019 mb |
Starry sky over Cabourduinen
Internet information from and about Cabourduinen
Cabourduinen:
Website - 
YouTube - Wikipedia (EN)
Hike described in "The Bliedemaker": "A walk from Adinkerke to Ghyvelde" (2010).
Heritage Agency: Field battery
Tourism Department "Visit De Panne"
Website - Facebook - Instagram - YouTube
Tourism "The Coast (Westtoer)
Website - Facebook - Instagram - YouTube
Adjacent hospitality business "Au Retour de la Chasse":
Address: Maerestraat 1, 8660 De Panne
Location: Google Maps
Website
Our photos about Cabourduinen
Onze foto’s, video’s, … zijn allen (c) 2004-2026, Top.Vlaanderen, België. Ze mogen niet “zomaar” worden overgenomen of gebruikt. Ze zijn evenwel licentieerbaar. Wil U uw eigen toeristische attractie, B&B, vakantiewoning… laten fotograferen door ons, dat kan ook. Neem hiervoor contact met ons op via ons Contactformulier .
Photos of the Cabour dunes (Nov. 22, 2025)
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Photos of ecological grazing (Nov. 22, 2025)
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Photos of old war infrastructure (Nov. 22, 2025)
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Photos of the old farmstead "Katjes Hille" (Nov. 22, 2025)
This farmstead was already mentioned in the Terrier of 1776(source).
Location of this authentic farmstead: Google Maps
Address: Veldstraat (located between house numbers 97 and 99), Adinkerke, De Panne.
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Photos of information board at the French fossil dunes (July 2, 2025)
Photos of French Cabour dunes (Aug. 28, 2023)
Location of photos: Google Maps (rue de la Frontière, Gijvelde).
Click on any of the photos below to launch the photo carousel....
Disclaimer: All information presented on top.vlaanderen has been compiled with the utmost care. It is also checked regularly. If you have any comments, errors, additional information, etc... please contact us via our contact form. We are not responsible for possible incorrect or incomplete information.
